Here are the latest Whispers we're hearing from our sources throughout the NFC:

• With Cardinals veteran SS Adrian Wilson recently telling the local media that he thought his days could be numbered in the desert, could disgruntled DE Darnell Dockett soon be following suit? It appears Dockett is none too happy with head coach Ken Whisenhunt after being fined at least $100,000 for disobeying a coaching directive near the end of the Week 13 game vs. the Jets and then being held out of the starting lineup in Week 14. “It’s possible,” one team insider said of Dockett. “He really should be a tackle in a 4-3 scheme and perhaps could be dangled in a trade. Problem is, Dockett has no heir apparent, as was the case with Antonio Smith, who was replaced by Calais Campbell, so they have to be careful.”

• Due to make $3.95 million in 2013 and $2.95 million in 2014, we hear Rams third OT Wayne Hunter likely will be too expensive to bring back next season.

• We hear the Packers have at least given some thought to lessening multithreat Randall Cobb’s workload by reducing his kick-return duties.

• Saints WR Joe Morgan has only seven catches this season, but he has really impressed the team’s coaching staff with his attention to detail and is a player the Saints believe can develop into a bigger factor for them offensively. “I think there are some hidden things that he’s done in games right now that people don’t see,” Saints interim head coach Joe Vitt said of Morgan this past week. “He’s really become a heck of a blocker. I think you attribute how we get better in the running game to some of the blocks he’s made. I think he’s contributed to some perimeter runs. For a younger guy, he really knows who to get.”

• The Redskins are having a harder time hiding S Madieu Williams’ shortcomings. The hope a few weeks back was that the return of Brandon Meriweather would help calm things down in the secondary — or perhaps add a level of playmaking ability — to help compensate. It didn’t happen once Meriweather suffered a season-ending knee injury. Now Williams is a weekly target. He too often gets caught looking into the backfield, even when the Redskins are not in zone coverage, and has been looked off and stung by double moves and pump fakes. His rate of getting burned is dangerously high.

• The Cowboys are in dire shape at nose tackle. They are without Josh Brent, accused of intoxication manslaughter and placed on the reserve non-injury list, for the rest of the season. And it appears that Jay Ratliff, their best down lineman, could be done, too, after he underwent surgery for a sports hernia. The ailments have piled up for Ratliff, who signed a huge deal (five years, $40 million) in September 2011 and might have hit his physical peak, as he's set to turn 32 prior to next season. But the concern for the Cowboys is immediate, too. Only Sean Lissemore can be counted on there, with unknowns (Robert Callaway and Brian Schaefering) as the recently signed backups.

• Vikings S Harrison Smith said he’s not sure when teammate Chris Cook will return but did add that he thinks Cook will add a new dimension to the defense if and when he does. “Chris is a competitor and you know he can handle the position physically,” Smith told PFW. “That confidence is infectious. If he comes back, we’ll feel (the effect). It would be big.” There’s a chance Cook could start practicing on a regular basis prior to the Week 16 game against the Texans.

• Packers TE Jermichael Finley said this week that the Bears might actually be better off on defense with Nick Roach at middle linebacker instead of Brian Urlacher, who is still out recovering from a hamstring injury. Finley’s view was not one shared by our league sources, though. Urlacher’s quickness has dropped off this season and Roach may be able to cover more ground than Urlacher in coverage, but Roach, who lacks size, gets caught out of position at times — his instincts do not measure up to Urlacher’s. One league evaluator said Roach is probably best suited to be a nickel ’backer, not a thumper on the inside

I'm going to be curious to watch some Arizona tape after this year. I want to see Adrian Wilson. I know the Cards have cut back on his reps. I'm not sure if it's because he's hit that wall due to age (like Turner) or for another reason. But if he still has something left in the tank, he could make a very interesting addition as a nickel safety for a team like the Falcons.

It's interesting to look at Dockett's PFF grades. He had a dominant Week 1 performance vs. JR Sweezy of Seattle grading as a +9.8. But in the games since, he's graded out as a -21.2. That would be the 2nd worst grade of any D-lineman in the league (behind only Kyle Vanden Bosch), basically because according to PFF, he's the worst run defender in the NFL. He had a +4.5 run grade in Week 1, but a -17.6 in the 11 games since. And he's not making up for it with his pass rush. He had a +5.5 grade in Week 1, but a -5.7 since then.

In a lot of ways Dockett and Babs are similar players. Not traditional run pluggers, but very disruptive players that can make impact plays if they can penetrate. Apparently, at least this year Dockett is not doing that. For example, in 2011 Dockett had 9 TFLs (per STATS LLC). This year, he only has 2.5. In an injury plagued year in 2011, Babs had just 2 TFLs, and now in 2012 he has 7.5.

Two weeks ago Darnell Dockett defied the orders of the coaching staff when the Arizona Cardinals wanted to let the New York Jets score for one more chance to get the ball back and potentially extend the game.

It led to an on-field incident with teammate Kerry Rhodes and then a $200,000 fine from the club for conduct detrimental to the team.

Now, Dockett wonders what his future is with the club. He signed a contract extension in 2010 and is easily one of the better players on the roster. He discussed it on XTRA 910 in Phoenix with Bickley and MJ.

“I have no idea,” Dockett said, according to sportsradiointerviews.com. “First of all I’m very thankful that the Arizona Cardinals have given me opportunities. From drafting me and to show my talent, I’m very thankful to the organization. If I’m not wanted somewhere then I will be happy somewhere else or however that situation may go down. To all the Cardinals fans, this was not my idea of me being traded or people thinking I might be traded and I came up with this or I said this. I never said that but at the end of the day I’m never going to be anywhere I’m not wanted or I’m not going to be somewhere where I’m treated unfairly.

“I want to be happy. I play with passion, I give everything I have on the field, I love what I do, I play injured a lot of times and I play through it, I don’t just sit out of games and watch my team go out there and play. Anything I can do to help this football team win I have done it and my record speaks for itself. At the end of the day if it comes down to that then I will take my talents somewhere else.”

The Cardinals also benched Dockett to start the Seattle game last week, the one Arizona lost 58-0.

“It was miserable,” Dockett said. “To get fined and then to go and get benched. Going against a team like Seattle it definitely affected me because during the game I never got warmed up like I was supposed to and it was just one of those things. I kept trying to find motivation for myself. Telling myself, ‘OK, I guess I’m going to have to be like James Harden and really giving my team a spark off the bench.’ I just felt like my mind was not in the game and it was definitely tough for me. If that was the situation was and that was my punishment then I disagree with it but it’s over with, it’s behind me and I’m looking forward to finishing out the season strong. Then go out and end the season right.”

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